In the fierce muzzle storm set off by the fierce burning of a large number of propellants, four 254-mm shells were like lightning bolts, firing towards distant targets at a high speed of 870m/s. In just two breaths, the officers and men on the French Michelet heard the screech of the nearby shells. And what made them tremble and panic was that this sound was already almost the same as the movement caused by the 305-mm large-caliber shells on the capital ship!

"Boom!" The 227-kilogram shell roared headlong into the sea, the waves swept into the sky, and the huge explosion was undoubtedly far more than the 194-mm cannon on the French armored cruiser. After a short time, the four 190 mm secondary guns of the Italian patrol also opened heavy fire on the French battleship, and even the Amalfi, which could only use half the number of secondary guns on a single side, exceeded all the main guns of the French patrol!

Under the crushing of this unequal combat effectiveness, the French Michelet was directly blown up by the other party. A 254-millimeter shell roared like a long arrow of black iron fired from the string of dragon tendons, tearing through the 152-millimeter-thick waterline armor of the French Inspectorate, and exploded into the main engine room. On the right, a reciprocating steam engine in full force bore the brunt, and the terrifying heat and surging air generated by the explosion directly slammed it into a pile of scrap metal; The rear-linked propeller shaft is twisted into a twisted shape, and the superheated steam from the rear boiler compartment bursts out, wreaking havoc in the confined space. More than a dozen French sailors flew with flesh and blood and died tragically on the spot in an instant. The Mishley slammed, and its speed slowed suddenly. A large amount of flames and smoke billowed out of the huge explosion hole on the side of the side. From time to time, it is accompanied by a jet of white steam.

This hit was only the beginning of the misfortune of the Mishlai. For the next five minutes. It was hit four times in a row by the Italian patrol that found the spot: the bridge exploded, the deck shattered, the chimney toppled over, and the guns were destroyed. Everywhere there was a raging rush of flames, the intensity of which almost made the French troops despair. During this time, although their 194mm and 164.7mm guns also hit the Italian battleships a few times, they were either easily bounced off by the opponent's astonishing broadside armor, or blew a few painless holes. It's just to keep the opponent's damage management forces busy for a while. The performance of these French guns developed in the pre-dreadnought era was as miserable as that of their carriers: not only did they have a low projectile weight, but they also had unsatisfactory muzzle velocity, and the result reflected on the battlefield was that it was simply impossible to inflict sufficient damage on the enemy.

After a few more minutes, the Mishley finally came to the end of its less than 5-year service. Once again, a 254-mm shell effortlessly penetrated its main armor belt, and this time it hit the ammunition depot of the secondary gun under water on the starboard side. Hundreds of 45-kilogram 164.7-millimeter shells were detonated in a very short period of time with a series of thunderous sounds, and the French battleship was blown open a huge hole of more than 100 square meters when it landed underwater, and the surging sea water rushed in, submerging one cabin after another. Less than three minutes. The French battleship capsized directly on the sea, and a large number of sailors did not have time to escape. Sinking into the dark and dead sea with this iron coffin, the lucky ones who can really jump into the sea in time and escape from the sinking whirlpool can be counted with one hand!

Artillery fire rang out one after another, waves of light exploded one after another, and the ocean was like a pot of boiling water, and columns of water continued to rise up every moment. The seven Italian armored cruisers were like reefs in the tide, still standing still in the face of the French armored cruisers who were nearly three times their size, and under the cover of the secondary guns of the capital ship group in the rear, they calmly launched a confrontation with the French armored cruisers. From time to time, red orange flames exploded on the ships of both sides, destroying the crystallization of the shipbuilders' hard work and taking away the lives that were still alive at the previous moment.

Although there are many ships in France, the performance of these scum is too poor, except for the endurance and passability, other indicators are simply useless compared to their tonnage. Covered by the massive medium-caliber artillery fire of the Allied fleet, they lost their ferocious appearance when they landed, revealing the extremely weak nature hidden in the tall hulls. Shortly after the sinking of the Michelet, four more French cruisers capsized in smoke and fire. These ships are all old ships built by the French in the last century, and the waterline is only a fragile belt armor; If they were to be placed in the Atlantic Ocean to break up and bully merchant ships, they would barely be able to do it, but a decisive battle of artillery fire in the Mediterranean would be pure death!

Just as the medium-caliber artillery of the Allied fleet violently beat the French patrol, the dog-fighting of light cannon fodder on both sides was also going on intensely. More than 80 torpedo boats dotted the vast sea area, intertwined with dogs, and the scene was absolutely spectacular. An Austro-Hungarian torpedo boat fired a burst of artillery, sending a French torpedo boat less than 200 meters away into flames, the waterline shaped like a colander, and its speed dropped sharply at a speed visible to the naked eye. However, before the multi-ethnic sailors on it could taste the glory of the Habsburg dynasty, two 76-mm high-explosive shells roared, directly blasting two large holes in the stern of the ship; After a while, the entire battleship was like the Titanic, which was wrecked in the Atlantic Ocean a year ago, bowing to the sky, slowly sinking in the explosion of continuous shells. The British torpedo boat that fired at it was also set on fire by three Allied torpedo boats shortly after, and the shell was broken in two and quickly disappeared into the sea.

Since the two sides were almost equal in number, it was difficult for the British and French torpedo boats to take advantage of the dogfight; The Allies were on the defensive and could be supported by small-caliber rapid-fire guns on their main ships, which made it more difficult for the British and French torpedo boats to rush to the right torpedo firing positions. For these cannon fodder ships without any defense, even a 47 mm near-miss bullet can cause water in their cabins; And once they lose the speed they rely on to survive, they will only be greeted by the only way to sink.

"Everywhere there was flying artillery fire, everywhere there were jets of water gushing and exploding. In the face of these rapid-fire guns, our torpedo boats were as fragile as vases under hammers; I saw with my own eyes a French torpedo boat with the number Z73 hit the deck in quick succession by two 3.5-inch shells, and then, like a rabbit shot by a shotgun, began to roll over to starboard in a violent explosion, and the whole sinking process did not take more than five minutes. A near-miss bomb exploded in the water 15 meters away, and the shrapnel washed onto the deck and the sea water swept the two young men directly into the drowning of the two young men; We had no choice but to pray to God from behind the thin cabin wall, hoping that we would still be able to see the clock tower on the banks of the Thames alive after this nightmarish battle. A surviving British sailor recorded the scene with trepidation.

The dense rapid-fire firepower of the Allied fleet, like a wall of steel, broke the heads of the rushing British and French torpedo boats. After only ten minutes of the confrontation, eight British and French torpedo boats either exploded and sank on the spot, or were damaged, completely losing the possibility of firing torpedoes on the main fleet of the Central Powers. The officers and men of the Austro-Hungarian and Turkish torpedo boats sacrificed their lives and did not hesitate to intercept the British and French ships; And even the Italians, who have been widely criticized before, are rare at this moment, and always insist on the front line of blocking the dog fight without evacuating. In the end, the British and French torpedo boats, which suffered heavy losses, were forced to retreat when they had no hope of breaking through the blockade. Their charge was perfectly defended by the opponent, and apart from sinking 9 torpedo boats in the dogfight, they did not achieve any substantial results, and instead paid the heavy price of sinking 5 armored cruisers and 13 torpedo boats. The British and French torpedo boats lost more than 30 percent of their men, while the Allied torpedo boat forces also suffered nearly a quarter of the casualties; People who do this line of work have always been the tragic fate of cannon fodder!

After the previous stage of the confrontation of auxiliary ships, the capital ship group of the Allies also officially announced its debut after the change of course.

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The sea breeze is blowing, and the waves are pouring; Under the bright sunshine of midday in the middle of the day, 12 main warships of the Central Powers in various liqueries were spitting out billowing soot and moving quickly, and the bow of the ships violently collided with a large area of silver-white mist. On the other side, as many as 22 capital ships of the Entente have not yet completed the turn of the battle line; Ships of all types were gathered in a haphazard group, and the captains of the British and French ships were anxiously waiting for the arrival of the ships in front of them. The width of the matrix of the six-column patrol detachment was obviously much shorter than the length of a standard battle line; At a speed of 18 knots, the Anglo-French fleet was clearly deployed much less quickly than the standard dreadnoughts of 21 knots.

The order was given, the fleet slowed down to 14 knots, and each ship launched fire in turn, giving priority to attacking the 9 ships that were lagging behind. Among them, 6 of the former dreadnoughts set fire to the same target in pairs, and 6 dreadnoughts each found their own corresponding opponents. It will take another ten minutes for the opponent's line to form, so now is the perfect opportunity for us to equalise the numerical deficit in one fell swoop! On the flagship United Forces, House lowered the binoculars in front of him and shouted to the herald beside him. The current battlefield situation is proceeding according to his script: when the attack is launched, it will take 8 to 12 minutes for the Entente fleet to fully deploy; And even if the opponent deploys the battle line, due to the course and position, the ships at the top of the Entente's battle line will still need to make a small maneuver to close the target to the most suitable distance for the decisive battle.

As a result, your fleet has about 15 minutes to play with firepower. And after 15 minutes, his six Habsburg-class dreadnoughts were able to rush to the battlefield. (To be continued......)